Agency focuses on integrating psychology, faith

Art Bennett, president of Arlington diocesan Catholic Charities, addresses a group of Catholic Charities employees at a conference last week focusing on integrating faith into the workplace.

Clinical psychologists, social workers and counselors for
diocesan Catholic Charities gathered in Arlington last week
for a conference aimed at learning how to integrate the
Catholic Faith into their field work with clients.

Art Bennett, president of Catholic Charities, said the
purpose of the conference was to help the social workers be
more helpful to the clients who are being counseled.

"We do things at Catholic Charities in a particular kind of
way," said Bennett. "We want to be able to bring the Faith
into the sessions, not imposing or proselytizing
(but offering) a view of the human person that is an
integration between their emotions, their feelings, their
thoughts and their souls. It's a delicate thing to do, which
is why we need the training."

In addition to Bennett, five speakers covered topics related
to integrating faith and psychology, including Dr. William
Nordling, chairman of the department of psychology for the
Institute for the Psychological Sciences in Arlington; Dr.
Paul Vitz, professor of psychology at New York University;
Father Paul deLadurantaye, director of the diocesan Office of
Sacred Liturgy; and Father Paul D. Scalia, pastor of St. John
the Beloved Church in McLean.

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde gave the keynote talk,
emphasizing that the men and women who work with those in
need "are God's instruments providing healing that is so
needed today."

It's essential for Catholic Charities employees to remember
that the person being treated is a human being made in the
image and likeness of God, the bishop said. The focus should
not be on converting clients to the Catholic Faith, he said,
but rather on best serving them by helping them realize a
respect for themselves and for others. Their work should be
steeped in not one particular religion, but in the natural
moral law that "transcends all religions in treating this
human person made in God's image."

"I applaud all of you for wanting to treat the human person
this way that respects who they are," the bishop said. "It
seems to me that when we do that, in the end we have (helped)
not only to enable someone to cope adequately, but richly and
fully."

Kelly Filippini, a social worker in adoption counseling from
the Center for Adoption and Pregnancy Services in Burke, said
that though she has a master's in social work, she had never
been trained in how to integrate the Catholic Faith into her
career.

"That's what brought me to Catholic Charities. I wanted to be
able to operate from my Catholic faith in a social work
setting," she said. "As a therapist you want to empower your
clients, but at the same time you want to direct them away
from immoral behavior that will eventually hurt them in the
long run."

Bennett considered the conference a success.

"I think the clinicians showed clearly how good psychology
can be integrated with the Catholic Faith," he said. And the
priests "did a great job of showing how fundamental Catholic
principles are congruent with good mental health."